Zachary Wiseman, M.ED

For generations, kids had three worlds: 1. Home 2. School 3. A third place; the park, the field, the neighborhood, the church gym, the rec center. That third place is where kids learned: • how to solve problems without an adult • how to read emotions and faces • how to handle conflict • how to lose • how to make friends • how to negotiate and compromise • how to sit with frustration • how to just be a kid But today? Most kids' third place is a screen. A screen doesn’t teach boundaries. A screen doesn’t teach emotional regulation. A screen doesn’t teach cooperation or conflict skills. A screen doesn’t teach patience or self-control. So all the social and emotional skills kids used to practice before they walked into school… they have to learn inside school now. And that’s why: behavior feels different attention feels different emotions feel bigger classroom management is tougher. This isn’t a “kids these days” problem. It’s a cultural shift. When the third place disappears, childhood changes. And schools end up carrying what the community used to teach. Until kids get their third place back, we’re going to keep seeing the fallout